Month: September 2014

Cheltenham Badlands

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A few weeks ago, it was B’s birthday, so we rented a car and  went to the Cheltenham Badlands.  I’d never heard of the area before and it sounded like something fun to do (was it just me who hadn’t heard of it before?).

The area came up in because I had mentioned how, having recently travelled to Seattle and Portland, Ontario was a bit “boring” compared to either of North America’s coastlines. It’s just sorta flat. But it was cool climbing up and down the red sandy dirt. It just seemed so out of place, those bumpy dunes. The area itself is pretty small, so we explored a bit, took some photos, walked around another park that claimed to have a “waterfall” for a bit, and headed off to dinner.

But what I realized after that mini-adventure was that it would be pretty neat to scour Ontario for out-of-the-ordinary / “undiscovered” places. The intern at work mentioned I should check out a place called Ball’s Falls 🙂

 

Keep Portland weird

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While we were on our trip to Seattle, Dave and some of my design friends drove to Portland for a day of fun. I’m not sure what I was expecting (maybe a sketch out of Portlandia?), but it exceeded all expectations. Food was great (Blue Star donuts—best donut I’ve ever had!, Nong’s Khao Man Gai, Pok Pok, Sen Yai, Salt & Straw, Stumptown coffee), public transit cheap ($1?!), attractions fun (Powell’s books, … okay, we didn’t really do much shopping). We did make a few stops at parks, including the top of Mount Tabor, Joseph Woodhill Park, and Ecola State Park. It was so beautiful at Ecola park, I wanted to pause everything.

West coast wedding love

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Two weeks ago, my friend Edrea and her high school sweetheart Simon tied the knot. We were among a group of design friends who travelled to Seattle to watch them get married. The ceremony was held in Kubota Gardens, a beautiful Japanese garden, and their reception was by the ocean, at sunset. It was so perfect and romantic. Congratulations, Simon and Edrea!